Bent wood handle manufacture



Sept. ?9, 1931. 1.. D. MELLER BENT WOOD HANDLE MANUFACTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 19, 1930 Sept. 29, 1931. D. MILLER BENT WOOD HANDLE MANUFACTURE Filed Feb. 19. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 if i'atented Sept. 29, 1931 LAVON ID. MILLER; 01 HIQ KSVILLE, OHIO BENT woon HANDLE MANUFACTURE Application filed February 19,1930. Serial No. 429,602.

This invention relates to shaping material.

This invention has utilityin wood handle bending, especially in bending forked ends of sticks in providing crotch elements for 4; wood handles, such as may be used on shovels,

forks and other tools.

Referring to the drawings: r

Fig. 1 is a plan view, with parts broke away, of an embodiment of the machine for it carrying out the invention herein, with the stick in initial position;

Fig. 2 is a partial view in plan of the machine of Fig. 1, with the stick spread into the full Vform;

Fig. 3 is an additional plan view with the stick transversely reshaped intermediate the legs of the spread V of the fork to have the free ends of the crotch in approximate parallelism;

Fig. l is a side view of the die and 1ts support in the position of the parts in Flg. 3, with the stick removed;

Fig. is a side view, with parts broken away, of the die and formed stick in the clamped position for holding to the shaped form;

Fig. 6 is a View of a machine wherein the free end collapsing of the fork is operated by rollers thrust in the same direction of the stick but thereafter, instead of thrusting the die oppositely to the stick as in Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view, in plan, of

pivoted or angle lever collapsing arms for n rebending into parallelism the free ends of the fork;

Fig. 8 is a transverse end view of a die from the right of Fig. 6, with piston rods oppositely acting to effect the rebending and 40 transverse pressure applying instead of the angles of Fig. 7; and V Fig. 9 is a detail view on a reduced scale of a handle hereunder.

Base 1 is shown as having loosely thereon 4; die 2 having medial spreading tongue 3-int0 throat 4. From this throatd and along the sides of the spreading tongue 3 extend branched ways 5 to open ends 6 from which parallel cheeks 7 extend as continuations of the walls of the tongue 3.

Stick 8 havinginitial cut-out 9 and tapered terminus 10 is thus provided with a pair of tines 11.

In this-fork blank, is rivet 12 back of the cut 9 as a holding means against splitting of this stick 8 back of the fork. This cut-out 9 is placed in register with the tongue 3. Seat 13 between the arms or walls 7 of the die is engaged by piston rod 14 as against head 15 in cylinder 16 thereby providing a positive stop so that with fluid pressure line 17 as an energy supply, handle 18 may be operated to connect this supply line 17 with line 19 to head 20'of cylinder 21 thereby thrusting piston rod 22 with cap 23 seating against the end of the stick 8 for thrusting this wood stick 8-longitudinally of its grain into the die 2 as held against shifting, thereby effecting spreading of the arms from the initial position in Fig. 1, to V-arm form 24 in Fig.2. I

Handle 18 may be shifted to connect the line 19 with exhaust line 26 independently of applying any further power to the cylinder 21.3 Handle 27 may then be operated to connect fluid power from the line 17 to flow by line 28 through cylinder head 15 into the cylinder 16, thereby thrusting the die 2 with its stick 8 in the contrary direction. This operation is'effectivefor partial recovery of the piston rod 22.

Adjacent the openings 6, fixed guide blocks 29.for the die 2 are provided with upstanding concave rolls 30 fixed in the region of the openings 6and effective in the travel of r or softened to reduce its tendency .to fracturetandpromote easy bending, is removed with the die from thismachine. To this end handle 27 is 'oppositely operated to connect line 28 with exhaust 35 and pressure line 17 with line 36 to cylinder end 37. There is thus a retraction of the piston rod 14 clearing the die 2.

The handle 18 is now operated to again connect the fluid supply line 17 with the line 19 thus projecting the piston rod 22 in thrusting the die 2 with its stick past the rollers 30 so that the die with its clamp 34 in the unit of Fig. 5 may be set aside for partial seasoning or form-setting before removal of the clamp and die, thus allowing the stick to retain its complete form 38 (Fig. 9) wherein it may be completed by assembling therewith cross grip 39 as held by ferrules 40.

The handle 18 may again be turned to eX- hausting position for the cylinder 21, and stick 8 be applied to thrust the piston rod 22 back into the initial position for re-starting this cycle of operations in forming these handles.

Instead of the counter-thrust from the cylinder 16, the bends 32 for parallel portions 33 may be effected by operating piston rod 41 carrying yoke 42 engaging slides 43 in guides 44 of base 1 carrying rollers 30 (Fig. 6).

Again, instead of the piston rod 41 connected to yoke 42, thrusting action may be from links 45 on arms 46 (Fig. 7) of angle levers having fixed fulcra 47 on the guides 29 with free arms 48 folding or swinging toward each other in effecting the bends 32 for the parallel portions 33. Additionally, these parallel portions 33 may be brought into parallelism in the walls 7 by piston rods 49 oppsitely acting thereon (Fig. 8).

hat is claimed and it is desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of producing a U-shaped fork from a piece of wood comprising notching the wood lengthwise of the grain to form two tines, spreading the tines to V form by applying force between the tines toward the crotch of the v to effect straight diverging thereof, and thereafter the additional step of applying force spaced from the crotch of the V and on the outside thereof to move the diverging free end portions of the spreading tines inward toward each other into approximate parallelism.

2. The method of producing a pair of reverse bend curves in adjacent parallel grain wood portions integral at one terminus comprising spreading the portions into a V with the wood the adjacent outside portion of the crotch concave with the termini straight and diverging, and spaced therefrom along the inner side of the crotch forming an additional opposite pair of concave portions by moving the V-free ends inward toward each other by a flexing effecting pressure.

3. The plural motion forming of a spread fork wood handle comprising pressing parallel to the handle grain along the grain of LAVON D. MILLER.

the inside of the fork toward the crotch to spread the wood into a V with the termini 

